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"If we continually try to force a child to do what he is afraid to do, he will become more timid, and will use his brains and energy, not to explore the unknown, but to find ways to avoid the pressures we put on him." (John Holt)

Mark_C
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Registered: 11/11/09
Posts: 20324
Loc: New York

R.I.P.

Not unexpected but very sad.Truly one of the great pianists of our time, and one who inadvertently became a force for world peace.Having the opportunity to meet him and speak with him at the Cliburn amateur competitions was an unimaginable joy, as you can see in this picture which I feel very fortunate to have as one of those memories. I will miss him greatly, in many respects.

RIP. One of the great pianists of the 20th century. Sponsored a world-famous competition. I vividly remember in 1972 when he made his annual visit to the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan. I played horn in the World Youth Symphony. When he sat down at the first rehearsal and began playing the Rachmaninoff 3rd I was amazed at the huge sound he was able to get from the piano. He really played well that week. Unforgettable.

He was one of the first pianists to play the original 1913 version of Rachmaninoff's Sonata No.2 at a time when even the score was almost impossible to find. And he also played the big chordal cadenza in Rachmaninoff's 3rd concerto when it wasn't at all fashionable, and made it his own, perhaps paving the way for other pianists. Even Ashkenazy didn't switch to that big cadenza until much later.

His recordings of those two works remain landmarks, in my opinion, even more so than that of the Tchaikovsky No.1.

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"I don't play accurately - anyone can play accurately - but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life."

I had the opportunity to hear him play on two different occasions (the Tchaikovsky 1 and Rachmaninoff 2) and also sat at the same table and chatted briefly with him at a Symphony fundraiser many years ago. Such a gentleman - a class act. Fifty years from now Cliburn will still be remembered as one of the great pianists of the 20th Century - long after many of his peers have been forgotten. RIP.

As I have written before, I experienced one of the greatest moments in my life when I watched him perform at Grant Park in Chicago right after his triumph in Russia. This was in 1958.

In this day of such crass and insulting noise that is considered by so many as music, Mr. Cliburn is so far above it all that he is a world in and of itself. I can think of no greater and more deserved praise.

With a heavy heart,Kathleen

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After playing Chopin, I feel as if I had been weeping over sins that I had never committed, and mourning over tragedies that were not my own." Oscar Wilde, 1891

Van was one of those larger than life guys that I was lucky to meet in my piano youth at a small college in South Jersey back in the early 70's. I remember he landed in an adjacent field in a helicopter, never warmed up and just hastened to the hall, sat down and played a typically grand program. He met with all of the aspiring young pianists at a reception afterwards and chatted with any and all that showed more than a passing interest. He was totally engaged and couldn't have been a better ambassador for the piano and classical music in general, just a really warm and very kind absolute gentleman. I learned the A flat polonaise that semester, inspired by his performance.

He was one of the first pianists to play the original 1913 version of Rachmaninoff's Sonata No.2 at a time when even the score was almost impossible to find. And he also played the big chordal cadenza in Rachmaninoff's 3rd concerto when it wasn't at all fashionable, and made it his own, perhaps paving the way for other pianists. Even Ashkenazy didn't switch to that big cadenza until much later.

His recordings of those two works remain landmarks, in my opinion, even more so than that of the Tchaikovsky No.1.

Yes, I agree, and, I have a personal favorite in his Chopin performances:

His legend lives on. He was truly one of a kind; I doubt there will ever be another like him. His life was like a fairy tale; a phenomenon that owed as much to the man, the person within, as the pianist. We were fortunate to be around while he was.